The response of leaf functional traits to the shift in environmental variables can raise plant
adaptiveness in a wide variety of habitats and subsequently broaden their ecological niche. This
study aims to determine the differences in leaf functional traits between simple and compound leaves
of Canavalia maritime to illuminate the mechanisms underlying the ecological strategy of plant species
with different leaf forms. Single-leaf wet weight of compound leaves of C. maritime was significantly
lower than that of simple leaves of C. maritime. Thus, compound leaves of C. maritime possess higher
resource capture ability as well as higher relative growth rate than simple leaves of C. maritime.
The petiole length of compound leaves of C. maritime was significantly higher than that of simple
leaves of C. maritime. Thus, the biomass allocation to petiole for compound leaves of C. maritime was
significantly higher than that of simple leaves of C. maritime. Meanwhile, the higher range of phenotypic
plasticity of SLA of compound leaves of C. maritima may enhance the advantage in resource (especially
sunlight) capture and use efficiency by shifting the material investment per unit area and per lamina.